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Off
the Air
Lynn
Meredith
Teamkong
Well…. the season is over…. a 9-3 finish which leaves many
of us disappointed and unfulfilled.
As with
most of us fans…. this years team looked like a 15-course
gourmet meal… yet we left the table still hungry…. not
completely satisfied…. still looking for more.
So
what happened?
You
can rationalize all you want and say that 9-3 is pretty good,
but it’s not with this years’ team. Pitt State was 6-0
against teams with losing records….. 3-3 against teams with
winning records. If the three losses were against superior
teams…okay…I would agree that it was a great season, but
will any of us say the Gorillas were worse than the teams that
defeated us? I don’t think so! In every case, we were a
superior team that did not play its best game on that day.
To think that North Dakota (a team we dominated at times)
is playing for the National Championship only reinforces that
the Gorillas are good enough in the big things…it’s the
mental aspects of the game where we sometimes stumble.
Next
year….given the Gorillas talent, schedule and tradition…. we
can “roll the ball” out and win seven games….and six of
those teams will end up with losing records. It’s the other
four we need to improve mentally against…. specifically,
Emporia State, Western, Central and Northwest Missouri. Our
recent pattern is to play with supreme confidence against teams
we are supposed to beat, but the other teams seem to make us
play a bit tight. We’re still confident, but it seems like a
more shallow confidence that can be dented if things don’t go
our way. Basically…we’ve
become a team that plays well with a lead…and not as good when
we are behind. We
know we have the players, coaches and fans… so all of us need
to improve upon the mental aspects of our program.
Well,
there’s much all of us can do!
Let’s
start with us fans.
We have to be more positive…even when things look bad in a
game… we have to believe that our team will prevail. ..and
most of the time it will.
But
regarding our overall program, I hear three things from people
very frequently. First…the negative fans need to quit calling
for coaches to be fired. Our coaches are good (I’ll get to
them soon) and work well with our players.
Secondly,
the negative fans also need to quit harping on the fact that we
recruit too many local players. Southeast Kansas/Southwest
Missouri football is pretty good and we have many players from
these areas who do contribute to this team.
I agree that we need recruits from more distant lands,
but it’s not a bad thing to have some local players. It
creates more local fan interest and helps keep good local
players from going to your competition…. like Germaine
Race??!!
Lastly,
Fans need to continue to support PSU and it’s football
program. It’s okay to be frustrated… at times, even
disappointed… but we have to stay on the ship!
How
about the coaches?
First… the coaches understand that the PSU community is full
of pressure to win, but that is not a negative…it is actually
very good. PSU fans are committed to success and expect nothing
less that perfection. We
have passion for this program. There is no apathy towards
Gorilla football and that is a considerably better alternative
than programs where coaches have to nearly commit a crime to
attract any attention to their team.
As
a coach, it’s easy to build up walls and think that many in
the community are nuts and sometimes solidly against you… but
they’re not. The PSU fan is loyal and dedicated to winning,
just as the coaches are. Those disappointed fans are just as
upset we lost to Emporia or Northwest as a coach is and that is
good! All a PSU coach has to remember when they are frustrated
with fans is that they could be coaching at Southwest Baptist or
Lincoln.
Secondly…PSU
needs to clearly define their offensive strengths and commit to
them. It seems we have a bit of many offenses, depending upon
our opponent, with no consistent commitment to any one style.
This is probably due to the benefit of many versatile players to
work with. Neil Philpot can run and throw…Andy Majors can
scramble and zip the ball as well. Add a solid running back and
receiving corp…and it is a tremendous group to work with! Is
Neil Philpot a deep passer or is he going to be a 35 carries a
game runner? This varies game to game. Can he throw the play
action pass? Do we dabble with the option or commit to it? Are
we going to run the I with Race at tailback? I know the keyword
of many offenses today is “versatility”, but there is still
some definition within any style of an offense. I don’t think
any of us fans care too much what we decide to do, but let’s
rely on our strengths and make a commitment to them. I think
there is this perception that PSU fans want us to throw the
ball… and that perception is wrong. PSU fans want us to score
points and plenty of them. The style is not the issue. Our
offensive coaches take a lot of unfair heat for our offense. The
coaches are good people and good coaches. They have many tools
to work with in 2004 with nearly all of our offensive weapons
returning. It will be a banner year if we commit to our
strengths and don’t vary from them until we are forced to by
our opponent.
Thirdly,
the coaches need to prepare next years’ team for the
“mental” aspects of winning big games and playing from
behind. That can’t wait until some game during the 2004
season. It starts now. Playing tight in a big game is a tendency
we are developing and that is not good… it’s a tendency that
in not natural to our program and will only lead to a loss of
confidence and less victories. In the last five years, we are
about .400 percent in these types of games… and most of these
losses were not to better teams.
Playing tight can affect coaches and players…and both
need to be addressed by examining their preparation for a season
as well as a game. One thing is constant in football… every
one of our opponents will get better… because of this, we have
the potential to be in even more games that are close…or where
we could be behind…and our players have to be ready to accept
that challenge with as much confidence as the coaches can help
them produce.
Okay…what
about the players? We
have good players who want to win…and this year we had the
best players of any team in the MIAA.
Yet our players at times, seemed to lack a confidence
that past PSU teams exhibited. Not a rah-rah confidence, but a
“game” confidence that showed no matter what happened on the
field. A confidence that was created from tradition, hard work
and self sacrifice. A coach or a parent or a fan can only
reinforce the confidence to win… they can’t give it to a
player…that comes from inside each person. He has to want to
win so badly that he will not allow a loss. But that doesn’t
only come with a tough attitude during a game… it comes from
the off-season, as well as game preparation… it comes from a
personal discipline that no coach can make you have or create
for you.
What it takes is leadership. Not one or two leaders, but an
entire group of leaders or entire class of seniors that sets a
standard of excellence and a work ethic…both on and off the
field… that makes all younger players strive to equal.
As you analyze successful teams in PSU history, there was
always a large group of leaders that stepped forward…not one
or two players. In my opinion…this is what is missing from
recent PSU teams. An
entire group of leaders that did all the little things right in
their preparations in the off season and for games. An entire
group that created their game confidence because they sacrificed
themselves to being successful…no matter how painful that
process may be.
It’s
doing the little things right that make players great, not
merely good. Being good is easy if you have some talent….being
great takes pain and self sacrifice.
Seniors are the ones that can set the pace for a team
work ethic… a standard that all players attempt to model.
As a player, did he work hard enough in the off-season to
make his body as strong as it could be or just yell a lot in the
weight room? Did you take extra minutes of workout time every
day in the off season? It’s not as fun, but it has big
results. It’s preparing mentally during this time as well….
what will I do if we are behind? How will I handle the
stress….the pressure? During the season, it’s staying home
during the week and limiting your nights out too, after
games…it’s not as fun, but again it has big results. Your mental strength…your confidence as a coach and player
comes from hard work and preparation in a system you believe in.
Being
a college football player is not fun most of the time. To be
honest…it sucks a lot of the times, but it is worth it….
especially if you are a player at Pittsburg State University….
because you have a chance to win.
So
as we thank God for our blessings this Christmas, we fans need
to relax on the Gorillas. We need to give them space to polish
off the traditions of the past and apply it to our future. We
need to encourage our team leaders to set high standards and
challenge their team mates during the off season and improve
mentally as well as physically.
We need to understand that our coaches are evaluating
their own performances, as well as those of the players…and
that things will continue to get better. They all know what
needs to be done… that harder focus on the little things is in
order to be great instead of good.
Because
greatness comes in doing the little things right.
The differences between winning and losing big games is
small. Catching one pass…. making one tackle…. performing
confidently at the exact moment of opportunity.
Performing without fear because you know that much was
sacrificed to prepare you for your moment.
It’s
a little thing…. but it has such big results.
To
all of you…a healthy and happy Christmas and wishing for many
more great recruits to continue the Gorilla tradition.
Lynn
Meredith completed his 14th year as Color Analyst for
KKOW radio and Gorilla football. A former college and high
school football coach, Lynn coached defense at Kansas State,
Panhandle State and Pittsburg State Universities. He was also a
Head Coach at Washington and Topeka Highland Park high schools.
As a radio broadcaster, Lynn has worked with play-by-play
announcer Tom Van Hoy since 1990.
Over the last 14 years they have broadcasted over 350
football games on KKOW radio.
Lynn
lives in Pittsburg with his wife Jan, and children Kelly 19,
Eric 16, and Rachel 14. |
